Corporations leaving US for more profit will be punished: Trump

US President-elect Donald Trump greets workers at Carrier air conditioning and heating company on December 1, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by AFP)

US President-elect Donald Trump has said American corporations that relocate abroad will be punished under his administration.

Trump made the remarks on Thursday in Indianapolis, the capital of the state of Indiana, as he announced an agreement with air conditioning manufacturer Carrier to keep jobs in the United States.

"Companies are not going to leave the United States any more without consequences. Not going to happen," Trump told workers at the Carrier plant.

"They can leave from state to state, and negotiate deals with different states, but leaving the country will be very, very difficult," he added.

During his election campaign, Trump has spoken against corporations which are leaving the United States for cheaper workforce abroad in order to earn more profit, leaving many Americans jobless.

He has vowed to bring jobs back to the United States and punish those companies which refuse to do so by imposing major tariffs on their products.

Trump particularly singled out Carrier, a brand of United Technologies Corporation, saying he had been trying to convince the firm not to shift thousands of jobs to neighboring Mexico.

The Republican billionaire had warned that his administration would slap tariffs on Carrier products as they were exported back to the United States.

"But I called Greg (Hayes, UTC's chairman) and I said it's really important, we have to do something because you have a lot of people leaving and you have to understand we can't allow this to happen anymore with our country," Trump said as he recalled an earlier discussion with the corporation 's top executive.

The company said in a statement that under the deal, negotiated by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, the state of Indiana offered Carrier $7 million in incentives over a decade, "contingent upon factors including employment, job retention and capital investment."

Pence, the outgoing Indiana governor, said the agreement will keep about 1,100 jobs in the state. "This is a great day for Indiana and it's a great day for working people all across the United States of America.”

Trump’s campaign had been hit with so many controversies since its inception in early 2015. But the real estate tycoon still managed to stun the world by defeating the heavily-favored Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, in the November 8 election by promising to make American economy better and providing jobs to the jobless.